National Zero isn’t typically on the British Royals beat, partly because we don’t cover reality show stars and they’re not that unusual for rich people, but here’s an exception: The major press agencies have issued a removal notice for a photo they distributed that was released by the royal family purportedly taken by Prince William showing Kate, the Princess of Wales, posing with her children following abdominal surgery, saying the photo shows signs that it was altered before it was released.
According to NBC News, the photo was first published on the official social media account of the Prince and Princess of Wales but people quickly started noting inconsistencies and oddities in the photo including sections that appeared unnaturally blurred and body parts that seemed out of proportion. Kate hasn’t been seen in public since Christmas, and she reported was hospitalized for two weeks in January for surgery.
Photo manipulation wasn’t unheard of in the Trump administration, who did everything from cropping photos of his inauguration to make his crowd size seem larger to editing video to allege a member of the media hit a White House staffer.